Predestination
George Burns made a couple of very funny movies where he played both God and the devil back in the lat 1970s. I recall one scene where both characters were playing poker with each other. When I think about a pure free-will view of Christianity, I tend to gravitate back to that fictional image of God and the devil playing poker. Does anyone really think they can bluff God? (By the way, I tried to find the clip of the movie but could only find a passing glimpse. Apparently some movies were made prior to YouTube. Who knew?)
The refrain of the song “Blessed be the Name” includes the words “You give and take away”. I wonder if we really take that refrain to heart. God really does give and take away, even to people who aren’t believers. Sometimes we hear that God raises up nations, but in order to do that He has to work with individuals, too. Even the unbelievers’ wealth and power were not accumulated without God’s notice and likely intervention. He surely has a purpose for all the resources He has given to mankind.
If we look at Genesis and Exodus, God’s use of both believers and non-believers kind of jumps off of the pages. Jacob had twelve kids and eleven of them had a big problem with the youngest one, Joseph. They treated Joseph really, really bad by selling him into slavery after contemplating murdering him. This treachery ends up with Joseph becoming the de facto leader of Egypt so Yahweh can preserve the tribes. This is a great example of Yahweh working with individuals, even unbelieving Pharaoh, the jailers, Pharaoh’s wife, and a host of other people so that the nation of Israel could grow in number off of the radar of the Canaanites!
Referencing John 4:7-39, the Samaritan woman at the well during Yeshua’s earthly ministry is another outstanding example of the amazing power of God with respect to omniscience. Through a whole lot of happenings in the Old Testament, there was a people occupying Samaria who knew some of the ways of the LORD but were conflicted. Yeshua spoke of the fields being ripe and when He met that woman at the well it was no accident. A sinful Gentile woman who knew of the coming Messiah was used to make many believers and prepare that entire region for the spreading of the Gospel and the adoption that was to occur just a short time after that meeting.
The intersection of free-will and predestination is a very intriguing subject to contemplate. Think about your own lives now and see where you can identify the Hand of God guiding things in your past and your decisions. I can sure see this in my life. the idea of having a religious website and speaking in a Sabbath observing congregation would have been unthinkable to me 15 years ago, but here I am! Working in mysterious ways appears to be the LORD’s signature way of operating. Perhaps He will explain it all to us at the resurrection!
